Mt. Hope furniture founder Ernie Hershberger releases new book

Ernie Hershberger’s new book, Entrusted, turns the rise of Homestead Furniture & Design Center in Mt. Hope into a study of how a family company grows without losing its identity. The book focuses on the business’s expansion, but it also reflects the values Hershberger has tied to his leadership: faith, stewardship and servant leadership.

That matters in Holmes County, where furniture making is not a side industry but a defining one. The Ohio Furniture Guild says it represents more than 240 small businesses, mostly in Holmes County, and describes the region as the largest concentration of hardwood furniture manufacturers in the nation. In that setting, a local founder’s account of how a company was built carries weight beyond a single brand.

Homestead’s own timeline shows a steady climb. Ernest and Barbara Hershberger started Homestead Furniture in 1990 in a converted chicken coop. The company opened its own manufacturing facility in 1999, built a 12,000-square-foot warehouse in 2000 and opened a 35,000-square-foot retail store in 2001. By 2007, the manufacturing plant had grown to 40,000 square feet. Hershberger founded Abner Henry in 2008 as Homestead’s sister company for the luxury designer market, and the business later rebranded as the Homestead Furniture and Design Center in 2019. In 2021, it launched the HF Trade Program.

The company’s growth has stayed tied to Mount Hope and the wider Holmes County Amish Country business network, where reputation and repeat relationships often matter as much as price. Hershberger said in June 2025 that there were more than 450 small wood shops in and around Holmes County, a reminder that Homestead’s work sits inside a dense local ecosystem of makers, suppliers and finishers. He also said Homestead typically delivers custom furniture in about 12 to 14 weeks, underscoring how regional craft businesses compete on speed as well as craftsmanship.

Homestead has also pushed far beyond local markets. Cleveland Magazine reported in April 2024 that Hershberger had been building custom furniture since 1992. In 2019, Abner Henry collaborated with The Metropolitan Museum of Art on a seven-piece collection inspired by paintings in the museum’s holdings. Only 70 of each piece were to be made, with prices ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 and the full collection listed at $645,864.

For Holmes County, Entrusted is more than a company memoir. It documents how a Mt. Hope business grew from a chicken coop into a nationally visible furniture maker, while preserving the values that shaped its founder’s decisions and the company’s long-term direction.